by J. Orlin Grabbe

(continued from Part 39)

But I am getting ahead of the story. When I first
talked to Hayes, we had agreed to meet in Las Vegas at
Defcon--a strange convention of computer hackers that is
also sometimes well attended by computer security
personnel and a few present and former intelligence
operatives. In the meantime, things began to heat up.

I had started to probe the counter-intelligence
investigation of Vince Foster that was underway at the
time of Foster's death, as reported by Jim Norman in
Fostergate. And I had come across some evidence that
said that one of the things stolen through White House
channels were Presidential authentication codes
(generated daily by the NSA), by which the President
identifies himself in the event of nuclear war. There was
also a notebook giving all the global and regional nuclear
options--a menu of pre-arranged military scenarios--that
the President could select. This information had been
sold to Israel.

Sources were reluctant to talk, on the one hand,
because of national security oaths and the highly
classified nature of the subject; but, on the other hand,
they were even more alarmed and angered by the total
trashing of national security on the part of the Clinton
administration. Some of these sources went out of their
way not to blame Bill Clinton directly, and I gradually
came to believe this was correct. Basically, no one was in
charge at the White House, and a variety of sub-figures
did pretty much whatever they wanted to. Bill himself
was too involved giving speeches and chasing women
and, as I learned later, snorting cocaine, to actually pay
much attention to what was going on around him. And
what a lot of those around him wanted to do was make
some money, according to the principle that "a politician
who is poor, is a poor politician indeed." Substitute
"government official"--whatever.

Hayes and I had not, to this point, really talked
about Vince Foster. As much as we had discussed
money-laundering and political corruption, Hayes became
wary when I brought up Foster, and would change the
subject. But then I put out "Part 7: Allegations
Regarding Vince Foster, the NSA, and Banking
Transactions Spying." The CIA had taken note of the
long phone conversations of Hayes and myself, and John
Deutch, CIA Director, called Hayes up and accused him
of discussing classified matters with me, after the post
appeared on the Internet. Hayes told Deutch to fuck off,
then called me up and asked for a copy of the article.

"It's on the Internet," I said. "Well, I would have
to ask someone," Hayes said. So I faxed him a copy, even
though his statement puzzled me. I understood, later,
when I visited Hayes at his place in Nancy, Kentucky.
There were no computers around except for a lonely
micro in his living room. This microcomputer with no
modem connection seemed as out of place as the
Christmas tree in the corner that remained there year-
around. Moreover, I knew about the statement of a judge
in a court case, who had declared that Hayes knew
nothing about computers. Hayes was obviously delighted
with that judicial confirmation of his ignorance. But, on
another occasion, I went to another location with Hayes
and saw more operational used and surplus computer
equipment than I had ever seen in one location in my life.
Even the bathroom was wired and crammed with
equipment. One could sit on the john and easily believe
one was inside mission control for NASA. As I recall,
there was also a large sign--reflecting someone's weird
sense of humor--that read: "Absolutely no PROMIS
software allowed on the premises."

I followed Part 7 with a post (Part 8, naturally),
which reported what Israeli newspapers had to say about
Israel's nuclear spying in the U.S. Much of this
information had emerged at the time of the "Inman
Affair"--involving former NSA director and Secretary of
Defense nominee Bobby Inman. (I also mentioned a
Swiss account number that had Caspar Weinberger's name
on it. At the time, I thought there was an Israeli
connection to the account, but this turned out to be
incorrect. Weinberger's Swiss account was related to
illegal arms deals, not to espionage.) But Part 8
apparently created a storm in certain circles in
Washington. And again, the operational assumption was
that Hayes was responsible for the content of my post.
But, in fact, much of the information had come from an
Israeli chemist named Israel Shahak.

One consequence of Part 8 was that Bert Lance
made a trip to Nancy, Kentucky. He was acting as
emissary for a fellow Georgian--namely, Newt Gingrich.
It was a curious sort of contact. Gingrich had sent Lance
with a sealed packet of documents, because Gingrich
knew Lance knew Hayes, but Gingrich and Hayes did not
know each other. (Hayes knew most of the Carter people,
since he had been good friends with Billy Carter. Hayes
held Billy Carter's memory with a level of respect and
affection equal to the contempt he voiced for Jimmy
Carter.)

"Why would Lance agree to be emissary?" I asked
Hayes.

"He probably thinks there is something in it for
him," Hayes replied. Then laughed. "That fellow is
amazing. He could fall off the top of the Empire State
Building in a straight jacket, and before he hit the ground,
he would have found two parachutes, a bottle of champagne,
and a gourmet meal."

The top page of the sealed package was a request
to Hayes to check that the seal hadn't been broken--and to
make sure that Lance didn't see any of the contents of the
package. Gingrich obviously didn't trust Lance. Lance,
for his part, was supposed to ensure that each page, after
Hayes' reading, was fed into a paper shredder. The
documents mostly concerned money laundering. It was
some stuff Gingrich had been saving for a rainy day.
Gingrich was sending it as an overture to Hayes, and
additionally wanted to arrange a meeting.

Hayes agreed, but he was suspicious of Gingrich's
motives. "If you can think of any reason--other than the
stated one of discussing money laundering--that Gingrich
might want to talk to me, or any hidden agenda he might
have, you call me and let me know," Chuck said.

But I was annoyed. I was annoyed at those who
thought that Chuck Hayes was the source of anything I
had written (he hadn't been, not yet). I was annoyed at the
people who had been following me around the past few
days in Reno. And I was annoyed at some footprints that
had appeared on the hillside outside the fence behind my
house. "To hell with them all," I thought to myself, and
took a circuitous route to hear some live music and to
hang out on the town late at night.

But the next morning, I got up and began to
prepare a fifty-page background report on Newt Gingrich.